This Overdraft Services Disclosure and Acknowledgement Form (link below) describes the circumstances when EECU (the credit union) may pay overdrafts in your checking account.
“Overdraft” means there is not enough “available” balance in your checking account for use. An insufficient available balance may result for several reasons, including: (A) the payment of checks, electronic funds transfers or other withdrawal requests; (B) payments authorized by you; (C) the return, unpaid, of items deposited by you; (D) the imposition of applicable service charges; and (E) the deposit of items, which, according to the credit union’s Funds Availability Policy, are treated as not yet “available” or finally paid.
If the credit union pays an overdraft, you will be charged an overdraft fee as described in the credit union’s Fee Schedule, such schedule being updated periodically. “Available” balance is used to determine when your account is overdrawn.
The credit union currently offers two types of services to address overdrafts associated with your checking account. Such services are subject to change without notice.
(1) Overdraft Transfer Service (from a share (savings) account)
The credit union will transfer funds from a share (savings) account to cover an overdraft. In the event you would like to receive more information about the Overdraft Transfer Service, you may speak with a branch representative or call the Member Contact Center at 817-882-0800 or 1-800-333-9934. The Overdraft Transfer Service may be a less expensive alternative to Courtesy Overdraft Protection. In accordance with the credit union’s Fee Schedule, as of March 2017, the overdraft transfer fee is $3 for each transfer. This fee is subject to change. you will receive advance notice of any fee increase in accordance with state and federal law.
(2) Courtesy Overdraft Protection
A. Checks and ACH Transactions
This service comes standard with your checking account and allows, but does not obligate, the credit union to pay an overdraft for:
(i) checks and other transactions made using your checking account number; and
(ii) automatic bills and ACH transactions.
(While not required by law, and although this service comes standard with your checking account, the credit union nevertheless asks that you acknowledge these disclosures by signing the Acknowledgement Form.)
B. ATM and One-Time Every Day Debit Card Transactions
(A Separate “Opt-In” is required for the payment of ATM and One-Time Every Day Debit Card Transactions.)
This service may be available to you provided (1) you have authorized the credit union to pay overdrafts for Checks and ACH Transactions and (2) you have “opted-in” for the payment of:
(i) ATM transactions; and
(ii) one-time every day debit card transactions.
If you want the credit union to authorize and pay overdrafts on your ATM and everyday debit card transactions, you must demonstrate your affirmative consent (“opt-in”) by signing a separate form (EECU’s Consent Form for Overdraft Services – ATM & Everyday Debit Card Transactions) containing certain disclosures required by Regulation E, 12 CFR Part 1005.
In accordance with the credit union’s Fee Schedule, as of March 2017, the Courtesy Overdraft Protection fee is $34.00 for each overdraft. This fee is subject to change. You will receive advance notice of any fee increase in accordance with state and federal law.
You may elect to opt-out of the payment of your overdrafts at any time by speaking with a branch representative or by calling the Member Contact Center at 817-882-0800 or 1-800-333-9934.
The following is important information regarding your account balance, how transactions are posted to your account, and when an overdraft fee will be charged. You should read these disclosures carefully. If you have questions, you should see a branch representative or call the Member Contact Center at 817-882-0800 or 1-800-333-9934.
YOUR CHECKING ACCOUNT BALANCE. Your checking account has two kinds of balances: (1) the “actual” or “current” balance and (2) the “available” balance. Both balance types may be checked when you review your account online, through mobile banking, at an ATM, at a branch, or if you call the credit union.
It is important to understand how the two balances work so that you know how much money is in your account at any given time. This section explains actual and available balances and how they work.
Actual Balance
Your actual balance (also known as “current” balance) is the amount of money in your account at the beginning of a business day. This amount does not include any pending deposits or withdrawals.
Your actual balance reflects transactions that have “posted” to your account but it does not include transactions that have been authorized and are pending (i.e., “not posted”). While it may seem that the actual balance is the most up-to-date display of the funds that you can spend from your account, this is not always the case. Your account may have purchases, holds, fees, other charges or deposits made on your account that have not yet posted and, therefore, will not appear in your actual balance.
Example of Actual Balance. If you have a $100.00 actual balance and you wrote a check for $60.00, then your actual balance will show $100.00 because the actual balance does not include the pending check transaction which has not yet posted. While your actual balance is $100.00, you have already spent $60.00.
Available Balance
Your available balance is the amount of the actual balance that is available to you for use without incurring an overdraft fee or transfer fee (as applicable). Your available balance takes into account holds that have been placed on deposits and pending transactions (such as pending debit card transactions) that the credit union has authorized but that have not yet posted to your account. In other words, the available balance is your actual balance less any pending ATM withdrawals, debit card purchases, ACH transaction, checks being processed or other pending withdrawals from your account and less any deposits that are not yet available due to the credit union’s Funds Availability Policy. The available balance does not include checks you have written that have not yet been processed or pre-scheduled debits (e.g., health club dues automatically debited from your account at a certain time each month).
Example of Available Balance. If your actual balance and available balance are both $100 and you swipe your debit card at a restaurant for $40, the merchant could ask the credit union to pre-authorize the payment. The credit union would place a “hold” on your account for $40. Your actual balance is still $100 because the debit card transaction has not yet posted to your account; however, your available balance would be $60 because you have already authorized the $40 payment to the restaurant. When the restaurant submits the transaction for payment (which could be a few days later and could be for a different amount if you have added a tip), the credit union will post the transaction to your account and your actual balance will be reduced.
“Available” Balance is Used to Determine When your Account is Overdrawn.
Example of Overdraft Fee for Insufficient Available Balance. If your actual balance and available balance are both $100 and you swipe your debit card at a restaurant for $40, a hold is placed on your account and your available balance will be reduced to $60. Your actual balance is still $100 because the transaction has not yet posted to your account. If a check that you had previously written for $70 clears through your account before the restaurant charge is sent to the credit union for processing, you will incur an overdraft fee. This is because your available balance was $60 when the $70 check was paid. In this case, the credit union may pay the $70 check under either the overdraft transfer service (if such service is set-up and funds are available) or the courtesy overdraft protection service and charge you the applicable overdraft fee (which, as of March 2017, is $3 for each overdraft transfer or $34 for per-item for courtesy overdraft protection). The overdraft fee will also be deducted from your account, further reducing your available balance. Fees are subject to change. You will receive advance notice of any fee increase in accordance with state and federal law.
HOW TRANSACTIONS ARE POSTED TO YOUR ACCOUNT. There are basically two types of transactions in your account: (1) credits or deposits of money into your account, and (2) debits or payments out of your account. It is important to understand how each is applied to your account so that you know how much money you have and how much is available to you at any given time. This section explains generally how and when the credit union posts transactions to your account.
Credits. Most deposits are added to your account when the credit union receives them. For some checks you deposit, only $200 will be made available at the time of deposit. There may be extended holds on certain checks. Thus, your available balance may not reflect the most recent deposits to your account. For details on the availability for withdrawal of your deposits, you should see the section of your membership agreement and/or applicable disclosure(s) addressing funds availability.
Debits. There are several types of debit transactions or payments out of your account. Each type of debit transaction is described generally below. There are many ways transactions are presented for payment by merchants, and the credit union is not necessarily in control of when transactions are received.
Checks. When you write a check, it is processed through the Federal Reserve system. The credit union receives data files of cashed checks from the Federal Reserve each business day. The checks drawn on your account are compiled from these data files and paid daily. To your benefit, when multiple withdrawals are processed in the same debit posting, items will be processed from the lowest to highest amount.
ACH Payments. The credit union receives data files every business day from the Federal Reserve with Automated Clearing House or ACH transactions. These include, for example, automatic bill pays. To your benefit, when multiple withdrawals are processed in the same debit posting, items will be processed from the lowest to highest amount.
Point of Sale (POS) Debit Card Transactions. These are transactions where you use your debit card and you enter your PIN number at the time of the sale. They are similar to ATM withdrawals because money is usually deducted from your account immediately at the time of the transaction.
Signature Debit Card Transactions. These are transactions where you make a purchase with your debit card and you do not enter your PIN. In these situations, the merchant may seek prior authorization for the transaction. When that happens, the credit union generally places a temporary hold against the available funds in your account. The credit union refers to this temporary hold as an “authorization hold,” and the amount of the authorization hold will be subtracted from your available balance. Authorization holds are deducted from your available balance, but not your actual balance as they are received by the credit union. At some point after you perform the transaction, it is processed by the merchant and submitted to the credit union for payment. This can happen hours or sometimes days after you perform the transaction, depending on the merchant and its processing company. [Please be advised that some lower dollar signature debit card transactions may be processed as a POS transaction (without entry of your PIN), deducting money from your account immediately at the time of the transaction; the credit union has no control over how transactions are processed or routed by a merchant].
Please note: The amount of an authorization hold may differ from the actual payment to the merchant because the final transaction amount may not yet be known to the merchant when the authorization request is submitted to the credit union. For example, if you use your debit card at a restaurant, a hold will be placed in the amount of the bill presented to you, but when the transaction posts it will include any tip that you may have added to the bill. This may also be the case where you swipe your debit card at car rental companies, gas stations, hotels and other retail establishments. The credit union cannot control how much a merchant asks the credit union to authorize, or when a merchant submits a transaction for payment.
This is a general description of how certain types of transactions are posted. These practices may change and the credit union reserves the right to pay items in any order it choses as permitted by law.
The credit union may receive multiple deposit and withdrawal transactions on your account in many different forms throughout each business day. This means that you may be charged more than one overdraft fee if the credit union pays multiple transactions when your account is overdrawn. There is no limit on the total fees the credit union can charge you for overdrawing your account.
The best way to know how much money you have and avoid paying transfer or overdraft fees is to record and track all of your transactions closely.
The credit union is not obligated to pay any item presented for payment if your account does not contain sufficient available funds. Rather than automatically returning, unpaid, any non-sufficient funds items that you may have, if your account is in good standing, which includes at least: (A) you are not in default on any loan obligation, (B) your account is not continuously overdrawn for more than 20 days, (C) you make regular deposits consistent with past practices, and (D) your account is not the subject of any legal or administrative action, garnishment, order, freeze or levy, the credit union will consider, without obligation on the credit union’s part, approving your reasonable overdrafts.
The credit union may refuse to pay an overdraft for you at any time, even though your account is in good standing and even though the credit union has previously paid overdrafts for you. If the credit union does not authorize and pay an overdraft, your transaction will be declined. The credit union has no obligation to notify you before the credit union pays or returns any item. The amount of any overdraft plus your overdraft fees that you owe the credit union will be due and payable upon demand. If there is an overdraft paid by the credit union on an account with more than one owner, each owner, and agent if applicable, drawing/presenting the item creating the overdraft, will be jointly and severally liable for such overdrafts plus the overdraft fees. Once your account is overdrawn, you are obligated to bring your account to a positive balance immediately. If your account is not brought positive immediately, the credit union may close your account in accordance with applicable law, report such negative balance to Chexsystems (a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)) and/or refer your account to third party collectors. You are responsible for all costs of collection including, but not limited to, attorneys’ fees and costs of court.
Limitations: The credit union may, from time to time, limit the number of accounts eligible for overdraft services. Overdraft service, without limitation, is not offered to money market or savings accounts.
The overdraft service does not constitute a guarantee or an actual or implied agreement between the credit union and you, nor does it constitute an actual or implied obligation of or by the credit union. The overdraft service represents a purely discretionary courtesy overdraft that the credit union may provide to you from time to time and which may be cancelled, withdrawn or withheld by the credit union at any time without prior notice or reason of cause.
Download the Overdraft Services Disclosure and Acknowledgment Form